Southern California -- this just in

Women shot by LAPD in Dorner case nearing cash deal to buy truck

March 14, 2013 | 1:18
pm

Two newspaper delivery women wounded by LAPD officers during the pursuit of fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner may be closer to getting a new truck.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck pledged to provide the truck to Margie Carranza, 47, and her
mother, Emma Hernandez, 71, who were delivering newspapers in Torrance on Feb. 7 when LAPD officers riddled their blue Toyota Tacoma with bullets. Dorner was believed to be driving a gray Nissan Titan.

Hernandez was shot twice in the back, and Carranza was injured by broken glass.

Beck called the shooting "a
tragic misinterpretation" by officers working under "incredible tension"
hours after Dorner allegedly shot police officers. He promised to
provide a truck from a donor regardless of potential litigation by the
women.

Earlier this week, Glen Jonas, the women's attorney, complained the women still had not received the truck.

Sources said Thursday that negotiations with the L.A. city attorney are closing in on a plan to get the women money for a new truck. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was on going, said a news conference to announce a deal for the truck could be held later today. One source stressed that the deal would be for cash to compensate the women for their loss of their truck.

Jonas said earlier this week the women were first offered a used truck, then a
non-four-wheel-drive Ford to replace their four-wheel-drive Toyota. The
women also had to agree not to sell it for a year. His clients agreed to
that truck, he said.

But then the dealership and LAPD officials said the truck would be
considered a prize for tax purposes, Jonas said. "Essentially, they'd
have to pay taxes like they won it on a game show."

Jonas said the situation is all the more difficult because the women haven't been able to work since being injured.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the department, working with a car
dealership, was able to secure a new truck for the women and even
covered the taxes and fees. But, he said, the dealership has advised
that the vehicle must be legally declared for tax purposes. "We are
trying to work it out," Smith said.

The seven officers involved in the incident are assigned to desk duty
during an internal investigation into the shooting, which also left
holes in several homes on the cul-de-sac.

The officers were protecting the home of a high-ranking LAPD official
named in a threatening manifesto authorities said to have been written by
Dorner, and they believed that official could have been a potential
target. Dorner at the time had already killed the daughter of an LAPD
captain and her fiance — a USC police officer — and a Riverside police
officer, officials said.